Carefully, he used his Dark Essence to fill his meridians. He gritted his teeth as he felt a sharp pain in his legs.

Cold sweat dripped down his back.

He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, calming his heartbeat.

With sheer willpower, he controlled the energy released from his ten opened meridians as if he had created an invisible shield around them, preventing them from exploding. His condition stabilized after a while, fighting to maintain his concentration, and the pressure the immense amounts of vital energy were putting on his legs eased.

The ten opened meridians were stable, releasing their power in sync.

His back touched the mat, and he let out a sigh of relief.

Wiping the sweat from his face with his sleeves, he thought:

‘Ten are done; only two more to go.’

He had been studying hard to create a versatile technique so he wouldn’t have to worry about the tedious process of finding movements that matched the meridians he had opened.

After opening the twelve correct meridians, he would be free to create his technique.

Tristan sighed.

‘Movement techniques are really difficult.’

image [https://i.imgur.com/CJALaUN.png]

Lying in his bed, Tristan woke up to the start of a new day. His hands gripped the sheets tightly. The nights were getting colder.

He remembered that the day before, Master Sheng Ming had said she would make an important announcement today, so he got out of bed faster than usual.

Walking through the sect’s corridors, he saw the brown leaves on the trees through the window. A cold wind blew past him, making his hair stand on end.

The new season disturbed him deeply.

Rubbing his hands together, he headed to the outer area of the sect.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

He saw the other disciples of the Second Flying Dao sitting on the shallow green grass, a few dozen in total, and Master Sheng stood in the center with the apprentices around her.

Tristan sat near Yue and waited.

When the last disciple arrived, Sheng spoke:

“As you all know, this year is coming to an end, and the New Year’s Tournament will begin soon. You all understand the importance of the tournament and what it represents for the position of the sects in Zaguhan.”

Some disciples nodded, determination in their eyes.

“Because of this, there is a type of ritual that Second Dao students must undergo. In the northeastern region of the city, there is a place called the Ethereal Mist Peaks. On the highest peaks grows a unique type of herb that absorbs large amounts of moonlight. These herbs are called Silver Moon Tears.”

“They grow in the summer and absorb moonlight until autumn, when they are fully developed.”

“They have great mystical properties; their main effect is to open the spiritual pores of the golden body and unblock the intertwined meridians, allowing a cultivator to connect their soul to the realm of spirits much more easily.”

Upon hearing this, Tristan didn’t understand a thing, and judging by the expressions of the other disciples, they were just as confused as he was.

But hearing that herbs could help improve his cultivation was a great surprise to him; he thought that such things were just myths.

A disciple raised his hand and asked a question after Sheng nodded at him.

“So, the more herbs we use, the stronger we’ll become?” he asked enthusiastically.

But the master shook her head.

“There is a limit to the improvements that the herbs can provide. Otherwise, no one would allow mere disciples to have them.”

She saw the disappointment on many of the apprentices’ faces.

“You need to take this seriously!”

She said with a scowl on her face.

“This journey will not be without danger. It won’t just be you who will go in search of the herbs; all Second Dao disciples from every sect will be there too.”

Tristan noticed her lips curling in displeasure and her brow furrowing with more irritation than usual.

“And that’s not all. Although, according to customs and traditions, only Second Dao disciples are supposed to participate in the ritual, some dishonorable and shameless sects send older disciples to help their younger members, and in some cases, even to eliminate the competition.”

The faces of some young disciples froze as they realized the severity of the situation.

“But, but if the other sects already do that, why don’t we do the same? I mean, wouldn’t it be better to bring some Third Dao disciples along just for safety? If everyone…” The disciple’s words died in his mouth before he could finish as a powerful gust of wind hit him and those around him, sending them flying.

“How dare you? Do you want to be expelled from the sect? Do you think it’s right to stain centuries of tradition just because of the behavior of vermin without pride?”

“If you don’t see a problem with this, then you’re in the wrong place.”

“No matter what others do, a true Flying Dao disciple must never bring shame to the Flying Sword Sect.”

Many disciples shrank back and averted their eyes in shame.

Meanwhile, Tristan was deep in thought about something.

‘This trip seems like it’s going to be very dangerous. She deliberately left out the part where other disciples from the same sect who are ranked lower can take advantage of this opportunity to surpass those above them.’

‘Tsk, having to worry about external and internal enemies... I hope these herbs are worth it.’